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Muffy Aldrich's SALT WATER NEW ENGLAND

Friday, November 22, 2024

Reader Question: Places to Visit?

 A reader question:

Dear Muffy,

May I ask a question please

My wife and I are well travelled globally including several visits to the U.S.A. (we're British) however for all sorts of reasons (not least because we're getting older) our travelling days have come to an end. Somebody did ask me recently though if there was somewhere I wish we had visited but hadn't and my immediate response was "New England" (hence a loose connection to being a preppy question!). I wonder if there are any places the readers wish they had visited or could visit or have a strong desire to visit in the future?

Kind regards

41 comments:

  1. New Zealand for p.jacksons jrr tolkien lord of the rings set (aren't hobittses quite the prep)

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  2. Scotland, in the autumn or winter!

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    1. Definitely visit Scotland in autumn! My husband and I are especially fond of the Dumfries area, but the Highlands are also lovely this time of year.

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    2. Regarding Scotland I have a question for those who have lived or traveled there: Our 50th wedding anniversary is on the US Labor Day (which was August 30 in 1975). I was on business outside Amsterdam in 1995 on that date and my wife joined me afterwards for a leisurely driving trip counterclockwise around the coast of Scotland and to The Orkneys. (We each still have 'jumpers' from those isles.) It was a wondrous twentieth anniversary trip. She loved navigating my driving by map, the geology and stopping for long walks on the public lands, beaches and into the Highlands. During one picnic walk we discovered we'd been striding over a long abandoned golf course. I enjoyed the challenge of the driving. One late evening we arrived at the top of a Highland notch to find the road blocked by a herd of the long-horned cattle. We simply waited and enjoyed the sight and their company until they ambled off. We didn't get to The Outer Hebrides and have always wanted to go back. We live on the coast of Maine and the northwest coast of Scotland has unending appeal for us. Next year we'd like to do a similar driving/walking trip of as many of the islands beyond Skye as possible. We know there are ferries but don't yet know about favored places to stay and eat. It will be a special time for us and we'd like to really 'do it up' well. Any suggestions? We don't drink hard liquor or much in the way of beer so side trips to distillers aren't part of what we're eager to do, much as they appeal to others. Thanks!

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    3. Maye the query above could be addressed directly to Muffy for all to see and perhaps comment upon??

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  3. Paris ... Charleston, SC ... Bermuda !!!

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  4. Literally anywhere , I’ll go anywhere once

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  5. Lago di Garda, Italy. Heaven on eath.

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    1. Spent a few nights there in 2022 at the incredible Grand Hotel Therme. Heavenly indeed.

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  6. Through work I travelled to quite a few interesting places, some more than several times; Bosnia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Haiti, Lebanon. A good friend of mine said to me quite recently, “no wonder now you just want to go to Paris.”

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  7. Capetown, Uzbekistan, Peru and Chile

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  8. I traveled and still travel a lot with my husband and now 18 years old son.
    There is actually 1 country which I could go back again and again - Japan.
    We also like to visit US, one of the nicest surprises (I am not a fan of California), was Carmel-by-the-Sea.

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  9. I wouldn’t mind hiking the Scottish highlands.

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  10. Maine should be on everyone's list!

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  11. I am from New England but have never spent any time in the south. Recently I visited Virginia for the first time, and I would really like to go back and explore more.

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  12. Be careful which parts of the South you visit. The more rural, the more backward. Stay in New England.

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    1. True. One must have social connections in order to experience the elite South ... just as in New England.

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    2. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.

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    3. Proud Virginian taking great offense. Yankees stay home.

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    4. Why ? Because someone likes something other than what you like ?

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    5. The focus of this blog seems to be “Saltwater New England” not “The Glorious South”. So it seems that most here would have a leaning towards New England.

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    6. Yes, whereas outside the South the rural areas are bastions of enlightenment and refinement where all the new ideas catch on first.

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    7. "Leaning towards New England"? May I remind you of the comment: "Be careful which parts of the South you visit. The more rural, the more backward." I find that objectionable.

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    8. Oh dear I seem to have started a bit of a kerfuffle. I adored my time in Virginia. The people I met were pleasant and the area was beautiful. I apologize to the proud Virginian for taking offense. I would not mind going back sometime, despite being a 10th generation Yankee.

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  13. Good idea Yankees. Stay home. You won’t find anyplace better, at least in North America.

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    1. George Will today in the WPi: “John F. Kennedy once drolly characterized Washington as a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.” But as a Virginian and therefore a Southerner I have always felt New England was filled with charm, as this blog routinely characterizes. JDV

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  14. Too many places to count and not enough time, but New Zealand and Australia come immediately to mind this morning. Northern Italy too. I tried for many years to entice my wife to pull up stakes and move to Bolzano where German is also spoken, and there are two or possibly three universities in town. I'm up for learning Italian! Alas, the offer of academic positions for us both have not magically appeared. :-(

    Kind Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich

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    1. Io Capisco e parlo un po l'italiano. (I understand and can speak a little Italian.)

      I’ve found the best course for learning the language is the Pimsleur Approach Gold Edition. I’ve tried others, but their listen and speak method is easy to follow. Very good - Molto Bene. The well structured CD lessons are 30 minutes each, and will get your fluency going quickly. (The Pimsleur Method is now used by the FBI, Homeland Security, State Department, Marine Corps, and Navy – so they must be doing something right.)

      Pimsleur offers a subscription Italian course, but I recommend going to eBay and picking up a reasonably priced set of CDs:

      https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2510209.m570.l1311&_nkw=pimsleur+approach+gold+edition+italian&_sacat=0

      I’m not fluent, but I know a lot, and now can at least watch classic films (i.e. Fellini La Dolce Vita), without the sub titles.

      Buona fortuna, and Happy Thanksgiving.



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  15. Alaska, Bolivian amazon forest, Scottish-English borders and New Zealand.

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  16. Travel? As a young man when flying around still had glamour, I saw a good deal of the planet’s geography, and the Human Mess contained therein. Yes, a world of frustrated people struggling to find happiness, security, and peace of mind with few attaining it. (Einstein said there were only two eternals in this life: the Universe and Human Stupidity – and he often wasn’t sure about the first one.)

    Anyway, Machu Picchu was one place I never got around to. But, after viewing many documentaries, I know all about it, and could even draw you a map. It would be senseless to go now to see something holding no surprises. (I think a lot of current destinations are like that - with modern technology having stripped away many of the foreign mysteries.)

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    1. The structure and the concept of Machu Picchu can be understood from books and documentaries. The setting cannot. I know. I’ve been there. It’s like the difference between looking at pictures of the ocean and listening to recordings of surf crashing on shore, and standing on the beach smelling the salt air and feeling the power and the presence of the ocean.

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  17. That's a rather cynical view and a little sad as you would never get to meet the local people and learn to understand their culture. I firmly believe travel broadens the mind

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    1. You are right. There’s nothing like an impromptu personal cross cultural exchange to remind us of all we have in common. Such simple experiences help forge togetherness in the face of people and events who would rather draw distinctions between us. The other day I was looking at a painting in a museum in an overseas city. In my imperfect version of the local language I casually spoke to the person standing next to me about my connection with the work. The person turned to me and said “I feel the same way.”

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    2. Travel can certainly broaden the mind. I travelled with a group of pragmatic, tactical, goal oriented, businessmen to a nearby country currently under dictatorial rule. We met with a leader of the de facto opposition. One of the travellers wondered out loud why didn’t the residents simply revolt. The leader responded, “you have to live in a totalitarian society to understand the reality.”

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  18. I highly recommend the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV, which is now a museum and which has been used as a location in numerous movies.

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  19. Both New Brunswick and Newfoundland in Canada... most breathtaking coastlines and landscapes I have ever seen, along with the most friendly people.

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  20. Having just come back from Dublin, I am chomping at the bit to get back to Ireland and explore the countryside. Been to Britain numerous but would like to do a Great Houses tour. Cairo, Egypt is def on my must see list. Also Marrakesh and Casablanca in Morocco.

    I keep saying when I retire I am doing an around the world cruise. 6 months of escape from everything left at the dock. Heaven.

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